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| Why yes, my cherry tree does have blossoms. |
There was the exquisite in the evening tonight. The jasmine which is overtaking the side of the house let off a powerful, heady aroma. The clouds were Tiepolian but better because not baroque and overdone. And as the sun set yet the sky was still blue, the clouds blushed pink. And it was relatively quiet for a few moments.
May 15th
Surely it has been more than five days since I last posted. I feel awash in various streams of reality and responsibility: backyard jungle, boysenberry picking, front yard weeding, sorting and organizing patio, garage, bedrooms, patio, laundry, reading, kitchen floor mopping, yoga sequence writing ... just waking all the way up. I did get a load of laundry washing. I did go out to inspect last night's gardening (and found it wanting).
My biggest project for the week besides teaching a yoga student, was reorganizing my office/art room. I had to let go of a couch I liked in here because all it did was serve as a place to pile shit up on. It took me the better part of a day but I feel more space around me and, although the decision is difficult for me, I am getting rid of the loveseat. I like it and I haven't had it for very long, but I am not sure it really serves me. It's still on the premises, however I am leaning towards moving towards putting it on the curb.
Much of the yoga training seeps into other aspects of my life much more than asana practice, which I am doing far less of as the studio is closed for all intents and purposes.
Later that same morning.
Settling down and concentrating is not coming easily today. It is all about the fits and starts, the small steps in too many directions. Teri Ann's Zoom yoga class is in about 30 minutes and I will be forced to relinquish my laptop.
Maybe I just need a nap. I didn't sleep all that well. Besides a bit of a nap can be a bit of a reset. Sometimes, closing my eyes for a bit allows me to refocus and I jump up to productivity.
I will admit to overall world weariness. This pandemic is resetting the world in more ways than are easily comprehensible. Out the window, I see mylar balloons rising in the air to pollute and wreak havoc on the environment. I am tempted to print out an article about how shitty they are and leave in in their mailbox. I think people just don't know.
There has been a bit of a discussion, from two directions, about the philanthropy of the likes of Gates and Bloomberg. I am wary of men who have accumulated that much money, no matter how much good they do. If they became mendicants or were actually working on the streets, I might have more patience for them. I see men, again with the men, again with the patriarchy, choosing their battles. Now, I know that it is good to not take on too much, to have focus, but something about men, power, and money just naturally makes me uneasy. I warrant this is not a well-thought-out argument, but just how I feel at the moment.
The front garden is coming along. It's a lot of work to dig deep enough to interrupt those lawn grasses and dandelions. The part I have dug up and planted now needs weeding. Here's what you learn: leave enough space between plants to be able to dig up weeds without crushing other plants. Duh. I will take some snaps when it gets filled in a bit better and the special poppies (not opium) are blooming.
Getting on to yoga time, and I definitely need a nap.
What a difference a nap makes. Much more focussed.
Sometimes I wonder why I am doing yoga teacher training as at the moment, I don't have a lot of enthusiasm for it. Had the pandemic not kicked in, I think I would be much more engaged now and my personal practice would be improving rather than ... well, not stagnating, but not getting a lot better. I have so much information that is not quite settling down in either mind or body. I expect this to change.
Even though I was aching for nap, I couldn't sleep. I tried listening to My Cousin Rachel, which is the Kermit Place Readers book choice of the month. That wasn't quite helping, so I turned it off and just concentrated on my breathing. Now, there was the ticket.
WASTE
Not even waste
is inviolate.
The day misspent,
the love misplaced,
has inside it
the seed of redemption
Nothing is exempt
from resurrection.
It is tiresome
how the grass
re-ripens, greening
all along the punched
and mucked horizon
once the bison
have moved on,
leaning into hunger
and hard luck.
— Kaye Ryan, The Best of It: New and Selected Poems, New York, Grove, 2010
And speaking of a day misspent, here's another old Radio Sally Mix I unearthed in my unpacking of too many cds.
Radio Sally
A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today
(01) XTC: Earn Enough For Us 02:54
(Partridge)
from Skylarking, Geffen, 1986
(02) Peter Case: A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today 03:31
(Haggard)
from Tulare Dust, Hightone, 1994
(03) Slim Harpo: I Need Money (Keep Your Alibis) 02:21
(Moore)
from The Best of Slim Harpo, Excello, 1989
(04) Fenton Robinson: Somebody Loan Me A Dime 02:56
(Robinson)
from Somebody Loan Me A Dime, Alligator, 1984
(05) The Beatles: You Never Give me Your Money 04:03
(Lennon/McCartney)
from Abbey Road, EMI, 1969
(06) Robert Palmer: Sneakin' Sally through the Alley 04:21
(Toussaint)
from Sneakin' Sally through the Alley, Island, 1974
(07) Greg Brown: Where’s My Everything? 03:22
(Nick Lowe)
from Labor of Love, Telarc, 2001
(08) Josh Rouse: A Well-Respected Man03:13
(Davies)
from This Is Where I Belong, Rhino, 2002
(09) John Hiatt: Shredding the Document 05:01
(Hiatt)
from Walk On, Capitol, 1995
(10) Christine Collister: Can’t Win 05:09
(Thompson)
from Blue Aconite, Koch, 1996
(11) Traffic: (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired 10:29
(Winwood/Capaldi)
from Shoot Out at The Fantasy Factory, Island, 1973
(12) Rosie Flores: I Push Right Over 02:53
(Fulks)
from Speed of Sound, Eminent, 2001
(13) The Bobs: Please Let Me Be Your Third World Country 03:25
(Madsen/Greene)
from My, I’m Large, Great American Music Hall Records, 1987
(14) David Lindley & El Rayo-X: Texas Tango 03:24
(Bob “Frizz” Fuller)
from Very Greasy, Elektra, 1988
(15) Devil and Bunny Show: Crossing Muddy Waters 03:37
(Hiatt)
from The I-10 Chronicles, Vol. 2: One More for the Road, Narada, 2001
(16) Ron Kavana: Blackwaterside 03:18
(R. Kavana)
from Home Fire, Green Linnet, 1991
(17) Waylon Jennings & Emmylou Harris: Spanish Johnny 03:48
(Siebell)
from Waylon & Company, RCA1983
(18) Smog: Cold-Blooded Old Times 04:10
(Callahan)
from Knock, Knock, Drag City, 1999
(19) Steve Earle: Hurtin' Me, Hurtin' You 03:21
(Earle)
from I Feel Alright, Warner Bros., 1996
(20) Mary Black: No Frontiers 04:10
(Jimmy McCarthy)
from Bringing It All Back Home, Vol. 1, Valley Entertainment, 1998
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